With dynasty league rankings, the 2019 and 2020 seasons must be factored in – even more so now, with only six weeks left in the regular season. With tight ends, for example, I think it’s reasonable use a top-10 pick on Hunter Henry. He probably won’t even play this year, but he’s still got a great career ahead of him.
Zach Ertz is the No. 1 tight end on my board. He’s catching tons of balls (he’s going to break the single-season catch record for the position) and he’s a year younger than Travis Kelce.
Those are the clear top 2, I think. Then I’ve got six youngsters with bright futures behind them: O.J. Howard, George Kittle, Eric Ebron, Henry, David Njoku and Evan Engram. None are older than 25.
I’m leery of Rob Gronkowski. His body seems to be breaking down. Great player, but does he have more than six games left in his career? I’m not sure that he does. I might personally prefer to roll the dice on Dallas Goedert, who doesn’t really have much of an NFL role yet but looks like he’s going to be good.
A few weeks back I had pretty much given up on Jordan Reed, but he’s looking better now. He’s benefited from the Alex Smith injury. He seems to have a better rapport with Colt McCoy. Reed didn’t have 70 yards in any of his first nine games (and with just 1 TD on opening day). Since McCoy took over, Reed has gone over 70 yards two weeks in a row, with a touchdown. Still has the injury history, but I think he’s back in the conversation as a top-10 tight end.
All but three of the tight ends in my top 20 are under 30. The three older tight ends rank 15th to 17th.
With these being long-term rankings, I have five tight ends in my top 50 who aren’t even going to play again this year: Howard, Henry, Delanie Walker, Tyler Eifert and Will Dissly.
DYNASTY TIGHT END RANKINGS | |||
---|---|---|---|
Rk | Team | Player | Age |
1. | PHI | Zach Ertz | 28 |
2. | KC | Travis Kelce | 29 |
3. | TB | O.J. Howard | 24 |
4. | SF | George Kittle | 25 |
5. | IND | Eric Ebron | 25 |
6. | LAC | Hunter Henry | 23 |
7. | CLE | David Njoku | 22 |
8. | NYG | Evan Engram | 24 |
9. | CHI | Trey Burton | 27 |
10. | WAS | Jordan Reed | 28 |
11. | NE | Rob Gronkowski | 29 |
12. | PHI | • Dallas Goedert | 23 |
13. | IND | Jack Doyle | 28 |
14. | MIN | Kyle Rudolph | 29 |
15. | OAK | Jared Cook | 31 |
16. | GB | Jimmy Graham | 32 |
17. | CAR | Greg Olsen | 33 |
18. | PIT | Vance McDonald | 28 |
19. | LAR | Gerald Everett | 24 |
20. | NYJ | • Chris Herndon | 22 |
21. | ARI | Ricky Seals-Jones | 23 |
22. | ATL | Austin Hooper | 24 |
23. | TB | Cameron Brate | 27 |
24. | TEN | Delanie Walker | 34 |
25. | BAL | • Mark Andrews | 22 |
26. | BAL | • Hayden Hurst | 25 |
27. | MIA | • Mike Gesicki | 23 |
28. | DET | Michael Roberts | 24 |
29. | DEN | Jeff Heuerman | 26 |
30. | CIN | C.J. Uzomah | 25 |
31. | BUF | Charles Clay | 29 |
32. | HOU | • Jordan Akins | 26 |
33. | LAR | Tyler Higbee | 25 |
34. | HOU | • Jordan Thomas | 22 |
35. | NO | Dan Arnold | 23 |
36. | DAL | Geoff Swaim | 25 |
37. | PIT | Jesse James | 24 |
38. | SEA | Nick Vannett | 25 |
39. | TEN | Jonnu Smith | 23 |
40. | SEA | • Will Dissly | 22 |
41. | WAS | Vernon Davis | 34 |
42. | CHI | Adam Shaheen | 25 |
43. | CIN | Tyler Eifert | 28 |
44. | CAR | • Ian Thomas | 23 |
45. | GB | Lance Kendricks | 30 |
46. | BUF | Jason Croom | 24 |
47. | BAL | Maxx Williams | 24 |
48. | KC | Demetrius Harris | 27 |
49. | NE | Jacob Hollister | 25 |
50. | IND | Mo Alie-Cox | 25 |
To see rankings for other positions (compiled on previous weekends) click on the “< Older” link at the bottom of the page.
Next week: wide receivers
—Ian Allan